Mike Watson opened to 40,000 in the hijack, Xiao Peng three-bet to 85,000 on the button and Mark Herm four-bet shoved from the big blind for about 700,000. Both Watson and Peng folded, giving Herm the pot.
Brandon Cantu open-shoved for his last 12 big blinds or so, and Xiao Peng decided to look him up with .
Cantu could only muster the , and while he flopped a gutshot straight draw on the , the turn {} and river () bricked off to send him to the rail just short of the unofficial final table of five.
A raising war just erupted between two of the biggest stacks in play, as Jared Jaffee and Brandon Cantu went toe-to-toe and squared off with half of the chips in the tournament on the line.
The excitement began when Cantu opened to 35,000 from the button, and Jaffee three-bet to 108,000 out of the big blind.
Cantu asked for a count and then elected on a four-bet to 275,000, with Jaffee taking very little time to announce himself all in for 1.568 million total.
The huge five-bet shove made Cantu shoot up out of his chair, but the word "call" came out of his mouth as fast as he stood up.
Jaffee:
Cantu:
"No!," cried Cantu when he caught sight of the cooler. "Gahhh!"
"Hold up one time..." said Jaffee quietly to himself while turning away from the table.
The dealer waited a beat to let the drama build, before sliding the flop across the felt.
"How is this real!" screamed Jaffee when he saw that Cantu had caught up. "Why?!"
Cantu remained silent while the turn card came , but the anxious look on his face betrayed the intensity of the emotions he was no doubt experiencing. He stared straight at the board and waited to see how the deck would decide his destiny.
River:
"Yes!," erupted Jaffee when the king came on the river to give him the massive double.
"No!" bellowed Cantu at the exact same time, throwing his water bottle across the room toward Sailor Roberts' World Championship banner. "No!"
The pain clearly evident on his face, Cantu circled the table, with Mike Matusow on hand to affirm that "that pot was for all the chips in the tournament" as his friend struggled to regain his composure. Jaffee, meanwhile, celebrated with David Williams, who is nearby playing Day 3 of the $3,000 Omaha Hi-Low event.
Mark Herm opened to 32,000 on the button, Mike Watson three-bet to 80,000 in the small blind and Joseph Alban four-bet shoved for roughly 660,000 from the big blind. Herm went into the tank for nearly five minutes before Alban called the clock. Herm eventually reraised all in with the bigger stack and Watson snap-called all in for 377,000.
Herm:
Alban:
Watson:
All the players held pairs, but the best hands held up as the board ran out , Watson triples up, while Alban wins a side pot against Herm.
The hand from the other table will be posted shortly. Jared Jaffee scored a dramatic double up through Brandon Cantu.
Jared Jaffee opened to 35,000 holding the button, and Brandon Cantu three-bet to 105,000 out of the small blind.
Xiao Peng was undeterred though, and she four-bet to 240,000 in defense of her big blind.
With the action back on him Jaffee wasted little time in moving all in for 1.1 million total, and despite standing up to scan the scene and asking for a count, Cantu laid his hand down. Peng did the same and Jaffee claimed a sizable bounty without having to see a flop.
Mike Watson min-raised to 32,000 in the cutoff and Jeff Gross three-bet shoved for 139,000 from the button. The blinds folded and Watson went into the tank for about two minutes.
"I'm too lucky, I call," he said, showing
"Oh man, thought you had the ace-four," said Gross as he showed , setting the stage for a coin flip.
The flop fell , giving Gross a set of fives and a commanding lead.
"Good flop," commented Gross.
The turn, however, was not very good for Gross as it was the .
"Well that's just a silly card," quipped Gross.
Sure enough, the fell on the river to give Watson a flush to eliminate Gross in seventh place.
"You're right," Gross joked to Watson. "Too lucky."
Gross shook Watson's hand and after going to the payout desk, Gross returned to shake the rest of the players' hands before making his exit.
With just 62,000 left to work with Jeff Gross made his stand with an open-shove from the button, putting his last four big blinds at risk.
The small blind folded and Mark Herm asked for a count before making the call with .
"Best-case scenario here," said Gross happily as he tabled . "Although you slowed me with the suited there!"
After instructing the dealer to deliver the board cards slowly for the maximum sweat, Gross watched as the board improved his hand through all three streets. Gross still has work to do, but the double gave him a bit of breathing room at least, while Herm still sits at just above the average.
The pot contained about 100,000 or so with the board showing by the turn, and Jared Jaffee led out for 57,000 from the small blind.
Xiao Peng took her time to think things through before flatting, and the river card was the .
Jaffee continued to press the action with a bet of 131,000, but after cutting out a stack of green T25000 chips and riffling them in silence, Peng assembled a stack and raised to 346,000 total.
Jaffee was agonized by the spot he found himself in, and he rechecked his hole cards while separating the calling chips from the rest of his stack.
"Are you ever bluffing here?" he asked to both Peng and himself. "Are you ever bluffing here?"
Finally, after a minute or so of thought Jaffee slammed in the stack and looked Peng up, only to see that she had filled up on the river with . The huge pot was pushed to Peng, while Jaffee could only shake his head in frustration.